Choctaw Matriarch Legacy Reaching into the 21st Century

 

Climbing out of the family’s station wagon partway through a long road trip from Texas to California in the 1960s, young Robyn Killingsworth knew they had arrived to visit her maternal great-grandmother’s farm. Born in the late 1800s, Sue D. Kaneubbe (Choctaw) welcomed the family to her home in New Mexico.

“I loved going out to her farm,” Robyn says. “It seemed like the women of our culture were the matriarchs. They were strong.”

Throughout her growing up years, Robyn’s family moved every few years between Texas and California for her dad’s work in banking. She loved visiting her great-grandmother during those summer road trips as her understanding and respect for the Choctaw matriarch of their family began.

“It took a long time in life for me to realize what my heritage really was,” Robyn says. “The only time I was introduced to it is when we made those road trips to visit my grandma. I’m a late learner, but still very, very proud to be Choctaw.”

When Robyn’s mother was passing, they talked of their Choctaw heritage and her mother’s intense desire to give back to the Nation and support their people however they could. Robyn’s mother, Glenna Sue Leighton, had received a large inheritance, and they wanted to make sure it went to their people in honor of their matriarch, Sue Kaneubbe.

In those final days of her life, Glenna led Robyn to her dining room table, which was overflowing with paperwork. Robyn dug deep and discovered a scrap of paper with information about the Chahta Foundation. Robyn reached out to Seth Fairchild, the executive director.

“I was not introduced to Oklahoma until recently,” she says. “I’ve made many trips to Oklahoma now, and Seth has taken me under his wing.”

 Robyn established the Kaneubbe Scholarship in 2015 for students who have been accepted or are currently attending masters or doctorate programs. The scholarship has one service payback requirement: That the recipient give back to their community. When Seth told Robyn about Jones Academy, she immediately knew that was one way to give back. She hopes scholarship recipients can help teach the children how to read and elevate their quality of life.

“I think children are our future,” she says. “I want to tell the recipients to go visit Jones Academy, and spend time with the kids, teach them what they’re learning in college. Inspire them.”

 

Credit: Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer